Raising Healthy Hearts

Staying ahead of heart disease: Our goal is to help children and families who are facing challenges and health conditions related to weight or abnormal cholesterol levels or who have a family history of heart disease. In addition to cardiologists, our multidisciplinary team includes a metabolic expert, a nutritionist, a behavioral psychologist, a health coach and other health care professionals. They take a comprehensive approach to prevent and slow the progression of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in high risk patients.

Preventive Cardiology and Metabolic Clinic

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of disease and death in adults. The risk factors that lead to these diseases start in childhood and include abnormal cholesterol, increased weight, hypertension, poor sleep habits, and high-risk lifestyles like lack of exercise, tobacco smoking etc.

It is therefore extremely important to encourage a healthy lifestyle in our children. The goal of Raising Healthy Hearts Program is to help children and families who are facing challenges and health conditions related to weight or abnormal cholesterol levels or have a family history of heart disease. Our multidisciplinary team includes cardiologists, metabolic expert, nutritionist, behavioral psychologist, health coach and other health care professionals. They take a comprehensive approach to prevent and slow the progression of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in high risk patients.

Our team will work with you to improve the diets and lifestyles of the children and to create individualized programs for each child to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. It is our responsibility to give them the best start for a healthy future.

Criteria for Referral

All patients ≤ 18 years of age with any of the following conditions.

BMI > 85th percentile for age.

Dyslipidemia

Non fasting non-HDL> 145 mg/dl

Fasting Total cholesterol > 200 mg/dl

Fasting LDL-C >130 mg/dl

Fasting Triglycerides > 150 mg/dk

HDL < 40 mg/dl

Genetic Dyslipidemias such as:

Heterozygous/Homozygous familial hyperlipidemia

Severe polygenic hypercholesterolemia

Familial combined hyperlipidemia.

Hypertension

Blood pressure > 90th percentile for age, gender and height.

Family history of early onset cardiovascular disease in first degree relatives.

Patient Education

Eating foods that are low in saturated fats and trans fats is a good way to keep your heart healthy. In this handout, you will learn some heart healthy foods and how to figure out which foods are heart healthy.

Eating foods that are high in saturated and
trans fats might raise your risk of heart disease. One way to lower your risk of heart disease is to make healthy changes to your diet. Here are 5 tips for heart healthy eating.

Some fats are better for your body than others. This handout will help you understand healthy and unhealthy fats, the effects that healthy and unhealthy fats have on your body and how much of each fat you should eat every day.

Choosing drinks that are better for you is a
simple step you and your family can take to be
healthier. In this handout, you will learn about different healthy drinks and how to choose drinks that are better for you and your family.

The holiday season is a joyful time to spend
with friends and family, but staying on track
with your wellness goals can be difficult this
time of year. This handout will give you some
helpful tips on how to enjoy the holiday season while still eating healthy and exercising.

Choosing cereals that are high in fiber and low in sugar is a good way to keep your heart healthy. In this handout, you will learn about different types of cereal and how to choose a heart healthy cereal.

This handout lists apps for better nutrition and nutrition tracker apps that help you eat healthy, choose healthier foods and stay on track. You can download or purchase these apps for your smartphone, tablet or computer.

Managing stressors and caring for our mental wellbeing is an important part of managing our physical health. Here is a list of free and lower-cost apps and videos that might help you feel a better sense of wellness inside and out.

Finding activities that help you to relax and recharge is an important part of your health. Whether you like to hike, do yoga, write or dance, here is list of activities you can do to manage stress and take care of yourself.